FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

OUR FAQ PAGE

What is the deadline to order each week?

All farm orders need to be placed by Tuesday evening, at 6:00 PM, in order to pick up your local farm fresh foods that same week. Pick-ups at the farm are scheduled for Thursdays 2:30pm – 6:30pm and Fridays 10:30am – 2:30pm only.

Is there a minimum order requirement each month?

No, we have no ordering requirements for those who choose to pick-up at the farm. Our one time $35 farm membership provides access to our local, nutritionally rich, beyond organically grown and raised farm fresh foods.

We do require a minimum $50 order for our off-farm deliveries, as well as a small delivery fee.

Is there a difference in your eggs that are raised using beyond organic practices and the free-range eggs in the grocery store?

Yes. Again, according to the USDA’s National Organic Standards (NOS), egg producers can label their eggs free-range without one chicken ever having the opportunity to see a blade of grass, or leave their cage. An amendment to the NOS allows egg producers to provide a very small concrete porch attached to the commercial chickens inhumane cages, and they can label them free range. This again is very deceptive to the unknowing public. According to a recent study funded by the USDA Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education Program (SARE), eggs from poultry truly raised on pasture compared to caged birds, have 10% less fat, 40% more vitamin A , 400% more omega-3 fatty acids., and 34% less cholesterol. That makes our eggs amazingly healthy! To learn more please go to www.cornucopia.org and review the Organic Egg Report.

Will I need to cook grass-fed beef differently?

According to Shannon Hayes, author of the Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, the cooking methods used for grass-fed and pasture raised meats differ from those used for mass-production meats. Tender cuts of grass-fed beef are often quite lean and therefore must be cooked gently. Other cuts, such as steaks and chops, cook more quickly and their cooking times need to be adjusted accordingly. A good quality meat thermometer will be your best friend. To learn more, please visit our Cooking tips and Recipes page.

Is vegetarian fed beef, for example Publix GreenWise, the same as grass-fed beef?

No, it is not. Cows that are fed a vegetarian diet are grain fed. While Publix GreenWise is antibiotic and hormone free, it does not have the health benefits provided from true grass-fed beef. To expand a little further, the USDA’s National Organic Standards provides an exemption for farmers who want to finish off, and fatten, their cattle on grain. This deceptive, and USDA’s approved practice, leads unknowing consumers to pay more for what they believe they are buying, “organic grass-fed beef” when actually they are not.

Please also note that while Publix GreenWise, and many others, claim to be “all natural”, there are NO USDA REQUIREMENTS TO LABEL FOOD NATURAL. Additionally many meats say they are antibiotic and hormone free, but this does not include the variety of drugs that are used to fatten up farm animals that are not classified as antibiotics or hormones. For example paylene which is used to fatten up pigs. This classification of drugs does not have to be listed on the label.

Do you support hydroponic and aquaponic farming practices?

No, at Florida Fields to Forks farm our belief system is that a plants nutrients are derived from healthy, live, nutrient rich soils. The roots of plants were designed by God, as a means of absorbing healthy enzymes, beneficial bacteria, trace minerals and needed nutrients, in order for them to provide a healthy food source for our bodies. With both hydroopincis and aquaponics, the nutrients are synthetically added to the water source and large beautiful plants can be grown, but they will only contain the nutritional value that comes from the synthetic additives. We suggest you read Back to the Basics of Human Health, by Mary Frost, to learn more about this topic.

Is your meat frozen? As required by the USDA, ALL MEATS, FISH AND POULTRY have to be transported at 28 degress. Since 32 degrees is frozen, all meat that consumers purchase throughtout the country, are frozen…until the point they are thawed and put out on the shelves in the groceruy store or meat market, under refrigeration. Our animals are processed, dry aged as needed, cut and sealed in vacuum sealed bags, then flash frozen. Our meat will easily last over one year in the freezer…but is always eaten way before then.

How are your animals processed?

Our animals our processed by South Marion Meats, a USDA and Animal Welfare Approved processor in Belleview, Florida. Our chickens are processed at the farm where they are raised for us in Belleview, Florida, with a USDA Twenty Thousand Bird exemption.